In response to news reports that Uganda is considering offering Sudan’s deposed President Omar al-Bashir asylum, the International Bar Association (IBA) calls on all International Criminal Court (ICC) Member States, including Uganda, to hand over Mr Al Bashir to The Hague-based Court in order that he face trial for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, a region of Sudan.
Dr Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director commented: ’As an indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir belongs in The Hague at the ICC. For over 14 years, since the indictment, Bashir has travelled freely, seemingly immune from arrest because of his position as President of Sudan. However, his position as a sitting or past President does not protect him from prosecution under the ICC’s Rome Statute.
Furthermore, there remains, as always, a legal obligation for Sudan to cooperate fully with the ICC, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593. A similar legal obligation is placed on all States Parties to the Rome Statute to arrest and transfer Bashir to the Court. Finally, there is a moral obligation for all states to ensure that Bashir, indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide, is brought to account. The millions of innocent victims affected by the Darfur conflict demand it, and justice requires it.’
In 2005, the UN Security Council referred Darfur to the ICC. Since that time, two arrest warrants – on 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010 – have been issued against former President al-Bashir. However, to enforce arrest orders, the ICC relies on the cooperation of States Parties to the Rome Statute – the treaty that established the ICC. The ICC's authority is recognised in 123 countries, which are legally obliged to arrest anyone indicted by the Court if he or she enters the country, but a number have failed to comply with the Court’s request to arrest Mr al-Bashir, and surrender him to the Court. South Africa is one such example, when in June 2015 Mr al-Bashir attended an African Union summit, and despite a North Gauteng High Court order preventing him from leaving the country, the government allowed him to depart.
Federica D'Alessandra, Co-Chair of the IBA War Crimes Committee, said: ‘The question everybody is asking is whether President Al Bashir, who was the first sitting head of state ever to be wanted by the ICC, will be handed over to the Court. Member States’ failure to comply with obligations arising under the Rome Statute prevents the ICC from exercising its functions and powers, and undermines the Court’s efforts to hold accountable those most responsible for heinous crimes. The IBA War Crimes Committee calls on authorities to ensure justice and accountability for the atrocities perpetrated in Darfur under Mr al-Bashir’s rule.’
After 30 years in power, President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir was overthrown and arrested by military authorities on 11 April 2019, following months of street protests by Sudanese citizens.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
- The United Nations factsheet on Darfur can be viewed at this link:
www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/sudan/fact_sheet.pdf - For information about the IBA War Crimes Committee click here
www.ibanet.org/PPID/Constituent/War_Crimes_Committee/Default.aspx - The International Bar Association (IBA) – the global voice of the legal profession – is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
In the ensuing 70 years since its creation, the organisation has evolved from an association comprised exclusively of bar associations and law societies to one that incorporates individual international lawyers and entire law firms. The present membership is comprised of more than 80,000 individual international lawyers from most of the world’s leading law firms and some 190 bar associations and law societies spanning more than 170 countries.
The IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community, and through its global membership, it influences the development of international law reform and helps to shape the future of the legal profession throughout the world.
The IBA’s administrative office is in London, United Kingdom. Regional offices are located in: São Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; and Washington DC, United States, while the International Bar Association’s International Criminal Court and International Criminal Law Programme (ICC & ICL) is managed from an office in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), an autonomous and financially independent entity, works to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.